Her song was ‘En gång i Stockholm’, a slow jazz ballad. This style of music was not very suited to Eurovision, nor popular with the juries. Zetterlund, sadly, did not score any points (the dreaded nul points) and came joint-last in the competition.

However, this placing did not unduly affect her career. The 1963 Eurovision Song Contest saw three performers take part, each of whom continued to enjoy successful musical careers despite not winning: Françoise Hardy (who came fifth), Nana Mouskouri (who came eighth) and Monica Zetterlund.

In 1964, she recorded the jazz album Waltz for Debby which was a critical success. Through the preceding decades, as recorded music became more widespread, songs in English from the USA and UK in particular were popular. Zetterlund had, of course, learned the words to many of these songs.

Her most memorable role was in The Emigrants, a 1971 film which was nominated for five Academy Awards, and tells the story of emigration from Sweden to the USA in the 1850s. In the film, Zetterlund played Ulrika, a former prostitute who travels to Minnesota with the main characters.

Later in life, she suffered from scoliosis which had developed following a childhood accident, as well as problems with alcohol. In 2005, Monica Zetterlund, aged 67, died tragically in a house fire in Stockholm.

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